surrounding the 9/11 terror attack in benghazi as president obama stands up for his u.n. secretary against scathing criticism from republicans. all that, while embattled former cia director david petraeus will testify on capitol hill. and breaking news from the middast, as rockets are fired between the israelis and palestinians. this morning, three israelis are killed. a live report coming up. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. and today one scandal will give way to another in washington. former cia director david petraeus is expected to testify in a closed-door senate intelligence committee hearing. general petraeus is not expected to discuss his personal indiscretions that ended his cia career last week. instead, he'll be discussing details on the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that resulted in the death of ambassador christopher stevens and three others.

also, the controversy over u.n. ambassador susan rice calling the assault spontaneous back in september has reached a boiling point. yesterday, president obama, in his first news conference since re-election, exploded at republican finger-pointing over rice. >> if senator mccain and senator graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. but for them to go after the u.n. ambassador, who had nothing to do with benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had receive d, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. >> earlier, senators mccain and graham slammed rice, vowing to stop her rumored nomination as secretary of state. >> i don't trust her, and the reason i don't trust her is because i think she knew better and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of america. >> we will do whatever is

necessary to block the nomination. >> well, back to petraeus, the "wall street journal" reports he was already at odds with his boss, national intelligence director james clapper, after petraeus wanted the cia to fight back publicly against criticism for its role in benghazi. and we have new details this morning on the personal scandals that have developed. petraeus and afghan war commander john allen, from nbc's andrea mitchell, who broke this story. >> reporter: at his news conference, the president went outs of his way to praise petraeus. >> he has provided this country an extraordinary service. we are safer because of the work that dave petraeus has done. >> reporter: as paula broadwell remained in washington staying with her brother and still not talking, officials say the investigation was triggered in may when general john allen received an e-mail from an account called kelleypatrol. sources close to kelley say it warned the general to stay away from her, that she could ruin him. general allen says people close to jill kelley forwarded it to

her on the account she shares with her husband, scott, thinking she had sent it as a joke. sources close to kelley said she had told general allen she had not sent it but was concerned she was being stalked or electronically hacked because the e-mail referred to a meeting she and general allen had scheduled in washington for the following week. in june, people close to kelley say she and her husband received as many as four similar e-mails from different accounts, telling jill she's up to no good, asking her husband, "do you know what your wife is up to" when she has dinner with general petraeus. she turned over all of the e-mails to an fbi agent she knew never realizing the impact they would have. the people close to the kelleys say jill kelley never had an affair with general allen, and the pentagon has found no evidence to the contrary, but officials say the e-mails had enough inappropriate language to warrant an investigation. >> no one should leap to any conclusions here. general allen is doing an excellent job at isaf in leading those forces. he certainly has my continued

confidence to lead our forces and to continue the fight. >> reporter: the fbi continued looking through documents they took monday night from broadwell's home but so far have found no evidence of anything highly classified. but the pentagon suspended broadwell's security clearances and macdill air force base revoked jill kelley's pass to the base. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. well, overseas now where fears of a new war in the middle east are on the rise after israelis took out the top military commander of hamas in a ferocious attack yesterday. and just this morning, the first israeli fatalities of the renewed conflict, three people killed in rocket fire from the gaza strip. nbc's martin fletcher has the latest now from tel aviv. >> reporter: palestinians in gaza are on the edge of a confrontation which neither side really wants, but that seems to be what's happening. israeli rocket attacks against gaza targeting the militant leaders of hamas are continuing tod

today. they also are continue to attack rocket stockpiles from gaza. israel's goal, of course, is to stop, to prevent hamas from attacking israeli citizens with its rockets. there have been about 850 attacks this year, 100 in the last week alone, so that's what israel wants stop. at the same time, hamas has been retaliating today. at least 130 rockets fired from gaza into israeli cities. about 50 of those rockets were intercepted by israel's homemade antimissile defense system, the iron dome, but one did get through. it hit the israeli town and killed three israeli citizens, and now israel is using that, of course, to threaten more attacks. the southern commander of the israeli army said that the assassination yesterday of ahmed jabbaarie, which kicked all this off, the militant leader, he says is just the beginning. meanwhile, israeli troops are gathering on the edge of gaza. tanks have been reported moving south. a ground invasion is possible.

it's definitely not what israel wants, but israel's defense minister ehud barak said this morning that israel would do anything, and he repeated, anything at all, to stop the rockets to make israel's southern cities safe. martin fletcher, nbc news, tel aviv. >> martin, thanks so much. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> good morning. one more quiet day, then a storm comes into the west coast. it's been a nice little break for me and everyone else across the country, no big storms. this next one's not that huge of a deal, but some rain in areas that haven't seen a lot so far this rainy season. and that will be san francisco northward. show you that in a second, but first, start you off this morning, as far as temperatures go, typical this time of year, maybe cooler than average. 48 vegas, 45 in medford. in the northwest, we're a little chilly, cities in the low 40s and the other areas, especially near spokane, are in the 30s early today. where's this next storm? you can see it spinning here, and here's where we are located here to the california coastline, and that's why we have one day until all this moisture begins to move onshore.

it looks to avoid much of the northwest. high pressure's going to stay anchored up to the north there. this is going to sneak under here and come onshore here. looks like the heaviest rains will be pretty much from san francisco northward up into southern oregon. and we're not talking a big blockbuster rain event, but the area from medford, south of san francisco, down to san jose, probably a half an inch to an inch of rain, but highest elevations will pick up snow with this system, too. temperatures today will warm up into the 40s, into the 50s in the northwest, and still relatively cool with the cloud cover moving in during the day today in california. that's a look at exactly need t bring the umbrella. it's going to be very, very light. this is the rainy season in california, it's when you expect to get some, and they actually need it. >> all right, bill. thanks so much.

well, coming up, bitter words from mitt romney about the election. plus, could a chemical keep men from cheating? details on a new study are next. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning. former republican presidential nominee mitt romney was on a conference call with some of his top campaign donors when he said that president obama defeated him by giving things to blacks, hispanics, and young voters. >> what the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. >> louisiana's republican governor bobby jindal criticized romney, saying, "we have got to stop dividing the american voters. we need to go after 100% of the vote, not 53%."

well, as expected, xi jinping is the new leader of china after being named general secretary of the communist party, as the country faces a slowing economy and demand for change. next to colorado, where a hearing today for james holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens more in a movie theater, has been delayed because he was hospitalized. holmes reportedly ran into a jail cell wall and jumped off his bed, but there are no details about his condition. well, fiscal cliff fears hit wall street wednesday. but today, bad news could come from overseas. the 17 countries that make up the eurozone are back in recession after its economy contracted for a second straight quarter. the wider eu, however, avoided the same fate, thanks mostly to last summer's olympics boost. back on the street yesterday, selling picked up during president obama's media briefing about those upcoming tax cut negotiations. and today, we'll see the impact the fed has. chief ben bernanke speaks this afternoon.

before the bell this morning, walmart reported earnings that beat the street's estimates. retail sales dropped in october after three months of gains. later today, bp is expected to announce it will pay the largest penalty in history to settle criminal and other claims from the 2010 gulf oil disaster. the fda says over the past four years, 5-hour energy shots have been cited in the deaths of 13 people, this after last month's news tying monster energy drinks to five fatalities. pizza chain papa john's is under fire after allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited text messages to its customers. plaintiffs are seeking $250 million in a class-action lawsuit. well, say it isn't so. twinkies gone by thanksgiving? hostess says if striking workers don't return to the job by the end of the day, it will be forced to liquidate. after years in the making, some kansas city folks are the first in the world to test drive google's new super fast broadband service. and could big pharma have

something in the pipeline to keep men from cheating? well, a small new study showed men in relationships who were given oxytocin stayed farther away from unknown, attractive women. well, a wild turkey strikes back just a week before thanksgiving. we'll show you the video. plus, the thrill of a lifetime for one 9-year-old boy. great story. details are next. you're watching "early today."

other stories making news on this thursday in america. a massachusetts er doctor has pleaded not guilty to charges of being drunk and drugged as her vehicle sped out of a parking lot and slammed into another car last friday. look at that. police say the 56-year-old woman then tried to leave the scene. one person was hospitalized with injuries. the hospital where the suspect works is looking into allegations that she was writing herself prescriptions. all right, next to connecticut, where a fearless wild turkey tried to pick a fight with drivers just one week before thanksgiving. the bird, who has a history of violence, approached and pecked a few cars. this is the same guy that was known as frankenturkey for his attacks on cars on halloween. now in new jersey, a military jacket belonging to a world war ii vet washed ashore after hurricane sandy. officials at west point were notified. they did some digging and now they plan to clean and return

the jacket to the 98-year-old widow of the soldier it belonged to. she'll be happy about that. well, in sports, we begin with some action in the nba. memphis won its sixth game in a row as rudy gay of the grizzlies put on a show against oklahoma city, scoring 28 points in a 107-97 victory over the thunder. in college basketball, eric murphy of number ten florida was a perfect 10 for 10 from the field for 24 points as the gators pulled away and rolled over number 22 wisconsin 74-56. all right, some baseball. tampa bay's david price was named the cy young award winner with 20 wins this season. and it was 38-year-old r.a. dickey who won 20 games for the mets who got the national league cy young award. he is the first knuckleball pitcher in baseball history to win the award. american swimmer missy franklin of colorado won four gold medals at the london olympics and holds the world record in the 200-meter

backstroke. the 17-year-old now has signed a letter of intent to go to the university of california at berkeley before competing in the 2016 summer games in rio de janeiro. and in oklahoma city, this kid is awesome. he's a 9-year-old boy who loves spor sports. his name is jason smith jr. he has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. his twin brother plays football, but last week, his father who coaches the team is the one who put jason into the game, and it was his teammates that pushed him all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. >> it was very surprising. >> just to get him in and see that big smile on his face like that, you know, that was a great feeling for me. >> i bet that smile's still on his face. quite a moment for jason. i'm sure he'll never forget it. just ahead, it is movie night at the white house with the cast and crew of "lincoln" on the guest list. and jon bon jovi's daughter is in hot water. plus, ben affleck's surprising comments about the newest sexiest man alive.

you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." your forecast is looking nice and tranquil today. tomorrow will bring rain to the forecast in areas of northern california. there will be more clouds around today, the southerly jet stream shooting up high clouds, over especially southern california and vegas, keeping your temperatures down a bit. to the northwest, after a chilly start, a decent afternoon. this probably looks worse than it will be, but the bulk of the rain tomorrow will be san francisco, northward to northern

california, just a few showers in the northwest. and if there's any travel trouble into the weekend, it would be on the west coast. it's not horrible, not going to be that much cold air around for snow, either, but you know, not perfect. >> bill, thanks so much. well, abe lincoln is returning to the white house tonight. steven spielberg and members of the cast of "lincoln" will be joining president obama for a screening of the film. lucky them. cast members expected to attend are daniel day-lewis, sally field and tommy lee jones. all right. stephanie bon jovi, the 19-year-old daughter of singer jon bon jovi, was hospitalized and faces drug charges after a heroin overdose. the responding ambulance crew found bon jovi unresponsive in a dorm on her college campus. police later found heroin, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia in the room. that led to her arrest. dave matthews band is the latest group to pledge aid to hurricane sandy victims. the band is going to be donating all sales from the november 30th concert to a hurricane relief fund. that's expected to bring in $1 million. way to go, dave.

and finally, "access hollywood" asked ben affleck, you know, 2002's sexiest man alive, if channing tatum is deserving of the title. check out what he had to say. >> i think he is and always has been. channing's a really good guy. is he here yet? he's a very good guy and extremely, extremely sexy man. what else can you say? >> extremely, extremely sexy man. well, accesshollywood.com ran a poll asking readers if they thought channing is the axeiest man alive. 65% said no. i feel like every year there's a controversy. >> you're voting no, then. >> no, no -- >> no, no, you're voting no. it's pretty obvious. >> right in the middle. >> you're voting no to channing. let's just put it down right now. >> channing, i promise, i am not voting you down. >> that's the bottom line. >> it would be fine. and this comes to us from atlantic highlands, new jersey, where a romantic discovery right out of the movies was made along a beach area hit by hurricane sandy.

a family recovering from the superstorm found a stack of 57 love letters among scattered debris. the letters detail a six-year love affair between a world war ii vet and the woman he met at a wedding. how sweet is that? the two were later married in 1948. the owner of the letters was tracked down and the intensely personal letters will be returned to 91-year-old dottie. lucky for dottie. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well, a man in the country of georgia has proven he has ears of steel. this is an understatement.

the 32-year-old pulled an 18,000-pound truck with just his left ear. how painful does that look? >> is it bad of me that i want it to fall off? >> ooh, that's terrible, bill. spectators looked in amazement as the truck slowly inched forward, because they were impressed. it was a personal best for him, saying it was the heaviest truck he's pulled to date. he hopes one day to be recognized by the guinness book of world records. in japan, some prefer their wine in a bathtub instead of a glass. why not, right? to celebrate the launch of wine season, some vino lovers took a dip in a pool infused with the good stuff. the wine is expected to create smooth, glowing skin. >> bring the kids! >> whoy in the? just grape juice for the kids. in addition to other health benefits, bathers made sure to toast the new season with a glass themselves, hopefully not from the bath itself. and this runner on four limbs instead of two broke his own record, completing a 100-meter dash in under 18 seconds, as recorded by the

guinness book of world records. his dream is for all sprinters to one day run on all thunder showers. the runner's next goal, beating olympic champion usain bolt's record. he looks terrifying. >> he's 1/2way there. >> yeah, he only has like a million miles to go. >> and back pain for the rest of his life. >> solid point. time now for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. this morning, president obama travels to new york city to witness firsthand the devastation caused by superstorm sandy and to thank first responders for their efforts. the president toured new jersey's storm-struck coast earlier this month. some of the superstorm's victims are still without power two weeks later while others lost everything. a holiday tradition in manhattan today, when macy's herald square unveils its 2012 christmas windows. and it's a historic day for us here at the national broadcasting center company. it was on this day in 1926 the nbc radio network debuted with

24 stations. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. see matt's rare interview with all the members of legendary rolling stones as they celebrate 50 years together. and hoda kotb will be behind the scenes with a look at kathie lee giffords' new broadway musical "scandalous," opening tonight. and now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.